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Azor Ahai, known as the Warrior of Light, the Warrior of Fire, and Son of Fire, is a hero of legend in the A Song of Ice and Fire novel series.
Under his most known name, he is part of the culture of the esoteric port city of Asshai and is also a sacred figure to the worshippers of the deity R'hllor, the Lord of Light. In other cultures across the Known World, Azor Ahai has different names such as Hyrkoon the Hero, Yin Tar, Neferion, and Eldric Shadowchaser. According to legends of Asshai, Azor Ahai created a magical hero's blade called Lightbringer, which can be used to fight off the darkness that fell upon the world.
Melisandre, a red priestess from Asshai, has mentioned Azor Ahai and a legendary figure known as the Prince that was Promised interchangeably, although she tends to use the name Azor Ahai far more often. She is the only person in the series who is known to treat the two figures as the same person, as she believes the Prince that was Promised is the reincarnated form of Azor Ahai.
The Prince that was Promised is a prophesied leader or savior of unknown culture of origins, and they might have been part of an ancient prophecy which foretells the coming of a hero to deliver the world from darkness, his coming heralded by a "bleeding star". Unlike the prophecy of Azor Ahai reborn, the prophecy of the Prince that was Promised does not claim they will be the reincarnated form of someone who already lived once. The idea of the Prince being Azor Ahai come again appears to be Melisandre's personal belief so far.
It is unknown if Azor Ahai is connected with the Last Hero, a legendary figure who was said to have lived during the Long Night and helped to defeat the Others. Given that all the tales about Azor Ahai and his various counterparts are from Essos, this seems unlikely. While the Last Hero was said to have helped defeating the Others, Azor Ahai was said to have ended the age of Darkness (or the Long Night) itself from Essos.
Throughout the novel series, two people are believed to be the reincarnated Azor Ahai: Melisandre believes that Lord Stannis Baratheon is Azor Ahai reborn, though recently it has been also proclaimed by red priests in the Free Cities that Queen Daenerys Targaryen is the legendary hero. Prior to the downfall of House Targaryen, Prince Rhaegar Targaryen, believed he was the Prince that was Promised, and black brother Maester Aemon (born Aemon Targaryen) agreed with him. Later in life, Rhaegar believed that his newborn son Aegon is the Prince that was Promised, and claimed he had "a song", the song of Ice and Fire. Rhaegar also suggested the implication that the Prince might actually be at least three people from House Targaryen acting together. No connection between Rhaegar/Aegon and Azor Ahai was ever made, however, as only Melisandre seems to believe the two prophecies to be the same.
Legend[]
The Darkness fell upon the Known World after the Bloodstone Emperor, the legendary YiTish last ruler of the Golden Empire of the Dawn, committed the Blood Betrayal, which in turn brought forth an age of darkness. In Westerosi legends, the long age of Darkness is called the Long Night, and it is historically agreed by all cultures that such age occured in early antiquity, when the Old Empire of Ghis was still forming. It was said that during this age of darkness, the huge and long river Rhoyne may have been frozen as far south as its confluence with the river Selhoru.
According to tales, a great hero rose to fight the darkness, which was said to have covered the whole world. The followers of R'hllor, the Lord of Light, believed that the name of this legendary hero is Azor Ahai, though other Essosi cultures called him different names such as Hyrkoon the Hero, Neferion, Eldric Shadowchaser, and Yin Tar. Legends of Yi Ti also speak of a heroic woman with a monkey's tail, and legends from the north of Westeros about a Last Hero who gained the aid of the Children of the Forest.
In order to battle the darkness, the warrior Azor Ahai needed a sword that is fit for a hero. At the sacred fires in a temple, he labored for thirty days and thirty nights forging the hero's sword. When he finished, he went to temper it in water only for the sword to break. Refusing to easily give up, Azor Ahai, took fifty days and fifty nights to forge another sword and instead of tempering it in water, he drove it into the heart of a lion he had captured. But much like the previous sword, the steel of the second blade shattered as well.
When Azor Ahai went to create a third sword, he realized with sorrow on what he must do to finish his work. After forging the sword after working on it for a hundred days and nights, he called his wife Nissa Nissa and asked her to bare her breast. He then drove the sword into her heart, combining the blade's steel with her living soul. This ultimately led to the creation of Lightbringer, the Red Sword of Heroes. Nissa Nissa's cry of anguish and ecstasy left a crack across the face of the moon.
Azor Ahai as Hyrkoon the Hero.
Ever since it was created, the magical blade of Lightbringer was always warm to the touch, as much as Nissa Nissa had been. Even though his sword was powerful, Azor Ahai didn't fight alone, as he led virtuous men into battle against the darkness in order to route it. According to the Jade Compendium written by Volantene adventurer Colloquo Votar, when Azor Ahai thrust Lightbringer into the belly of a monster, its body burst into flame.
According to ancient tomes in Asshai, it was prophesied over five thousand years ago that Azor Ahai will be reborn again in the form of a champion sent by R'hllor. After a long summer, when an evil and cold darkness descends on the world, the hero will be reincarnated. While wielding Lightbringer again, Azor Ahai will stand against the darkness, but if he fails then the world will fail with him.
Recent History[]
A Clash of Kings[]
| “ | Melisandre: In ancient books of Asshai it is written that there will come a day after a long summer when the stars bleed and the cold breath of darkness falls heavy on the world. In this dread hour a warrior shall draw from the fire a burning sword. And that sword shall be Lightbringer, the Red Sword of Heroes, and he who clasps it shall be Azor Ahai come again, and the darkness shall flee before him. Azor Ahai, beloved of R'hllor! The Warrior of Light, the Son of Fire! Come forth, your sword awaits you! Come forth and take it into your hand! [Stannis and his squires approach to take the sword from the breast of the Mother's statue] Patchface in the crowd: Under the sea, smoke rises in bubbles, and flames burn green and blue and black. I know, I know, oh, oh, oh. Selyse: A sword of fire! Axell and the Queen's men: A sword of fire! It burns! It burns! A sword of fire! Melisandre: Behold! A sign was promised, and now a sign is seen! Behold Lightbringer! Azor Ahai has come again! All hail the Warrior of Light! All hail the Son of Fire! |
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| ~ Melisandre proclaims Stannis Baratheon Azor Ahai reborn. |
Stannis Baratheon is proclaimed as Azor Ahai reborn.
While burning Dragonstone's wooden statues of the Seven, taken from the castle's destroyed sept, Melisandre recounts Azor Ahai's prophesied return. When she calls out for the legendary hero to come forth, Lord Stannis Baratheon, now crowned King Stannis I by his vassals, pulls out a burning red sword from the breasts of the burning statue of the Mother, causing Melisandre to proclaim him as Azor Ahai reborn and that the sword he pulled out is Lightbringer.
Inside a town's inn at the harbor of Dragonstone, when Ser Davos Seaworth meets with his old friend, Salladhor Saan, the pirate lord tells him of the legend surrounding Azor Ahai and the creation of Lightbringer. Doubting the authencity of Stannis's blade, Salldhor tells Davos that it is not Lightbringer but rather just a burnt sword that Stannis pulled from the fire.
A Storm of Swords[]
Melisandre continues to believe that Stannis Baratheon is the embodiment of the prophecy that foretells Azor Ahai's return, also claiming that he is the prophecied prince that was promised. She tells Davos that Stannis will awaken dragons out of stone. To achieve this, she tries to convince Stannis to sacrifice his bastard nephew Edric Storm, and let her burn the boy alive, and in exchange for his life all the castle's stone dragons, and possibly the other gargoyles, will come to life and become Stannis's personal monsters.
However, Stannis forces Melisandre to give him a demonstration of the power of king's blood, which causes Melisandre to have Maester Pylos give them three leeches full with Edric's blood, which Stannis uses to "curse" his rival kings (Joffrey I Baratheon, Balon IX Greyjoy, and Robb Stark) to die. After all the three kings are dead, Lord Davos, Salladhor Saan, Pylos, Ser Rolland Storm, Ser Andrew Estermont, and several other king's men secretly smuggle Edric aboard one of Saan's ship so he can be taken to the Free City of Lys. As Dragonstone celebrates Joffrey's death, an upset Melisandre tells Davos that for his actions, Edric and all the other children of the world might die in the Long Night That Never Ends.
While discussing with Maester Aemon the prophecy of Azor Ahai, whom Melisandre believes to be the same as that of the Prince That Was Promised, Melisandre explains that she is firmly convinced that Stannis is the hero, due to his righteousness and the fact that he was "born amid smoke and salt", the place being Dragonstone. Aemon, however, points out that Stannis was born at Storm's End, but Melisandre is dismissive, as she refuses to believe that anyone but Stannis might be the prophecied hero.
A Feast for Crows[]
As he lays dying on the journey between Braavos and Oldtown, Maester Aemon tells his steward Samwell Tarly that he believes that Daenerys Targaryen, the current Queen of Meereen, fits the prophecy of the Prince that was Promised, as the legendary figure was foretold to be born of smoke and salt. Aemon's reason that Daenerys fits the prophecy is because she was born at Dragonstone amid salt and smoke and she possesses three dragons, Viserion, Rhaegal, and Drogon, whom Daenerys gave birth to in the Dothraki Sea in Essos. While he does not question Stannis's righteousness and intentions, Aemon still questions his given role of Azor Ahai, and confides to Sam that he fears that a false prophecied hero will lead humanity to darkness.
A Dance with Dragons[]
The Lord Commander of the Night's Watch, Jon Snow, tells Clydas, one of Maester Aemon's two stewards, that he had read the Jade Compendium, which was left to him by Aemon. Among the book's legends and stories, the legend of Azor Ahai is also included.
Benerro, the High Priest of the Red Temple of Volantis, proclaims Daenerys Targaryen as Azor Ahai reborn. He gathers more and more supporters every day, chiefly among the Volantene slave population, who cheer for Daenerys' campaign in Slaver's Bay and hope that Daenerys will come to Volantis next to deliver them. Benerro and R'hllor's followers are viewed as a threat by the Volantene nobility and upper class, and the city's rulers, the Triarchs, are unnerved, as four out of every five inhabitants of Volantis are slaves and an uprising is dreaded. Thousands come to see Benerro preach every night and attend the red priests' nighfires, but the Triarchs lack the power to stop him, as too many of the Tiger Cloaks, the city guard of Volantis, worship the Lord of Light, so the triarchs dare not order them to attack, as they expect the Tiger Cloaks to side with the Red Temple's personal religious guard, an order of soldiers sworn to R'hllor and the High Priest.
Intending to give aid to Daenerys, convert her to the faith of R'hllor, and tell her she is Azor Ahai come again, High Priest Benerro sends one of his red priests, Moqorro, to Meereen and become her advisor. The ship that Moqorro takes is heading to Qarth, but Benerro tells him that he saw in his flames that the ship will not make it to Qarth, and Moqorro will find his way to Meereen through someone coming to him.
Trivia[]
- Although the hero's name, Azor Ahai, comes from ancient tales of Asshai, a city of lost origins, it is possible that the ancient scriptures of the faith of R'hllor identified as a Tall Man. The Tall Men are an ancient ethnicity of people who were the founders of the Kingdom of Sarnor, an ancient civilization of northern Essos, now nearly wiped out. The name Azor Ahai sounds similar to Sarnori male names such as Huzhor Amai and Mazor Alexi.
- Nothing detailed is known about the "darkness" battled by Azor Ahai and his company, other than a monster he fought. YiTish tales of the Further East Essos speak about demons, evil spirits, and similar dark entities, which had been brought into the world by the Lion of Night, a nocturnal god, to punish humanity for its sins and the atrocities of the Bloodstone Emperor and his followers.
- Followers of R'hllor believe that the long Age of Darkness/Long Night was brought by the evil deity known in the common tongue as the Great Other, whose real name is never spoken by believers, and said real name can only be learned from the ancient books of the east.
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 Heroes
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